Ausmus felt time was right to retire

For years, Brad Ausmus has been tabbed as a future manager, even if he's never actually stated his desire to be one. Next spring, however, Ausmus has every intention of finally plying his coaching skills. He feels, after 18 years as a major-league player, he's ready to make the transition.

Ausmus plans on coaching his daughters, Sophie, 12, and Abigail, 11, on their respective Little League softball teams.

"I want to be around them," Ausmus said, "before they don't want me to be around them."

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OK, it's not exactly taking over the reins of the Dodgers or Cubs. But that's just fine with Ausmus, for now. The New Haven native and Cheshire product, Ausmus recently announced he's retiring as a baseball player. After 1,971 career major-league games, five trips to the postseason and one to the World Series, Ausmus decided enough was enough.

"I'm ready," Ausmus said in a phone interview on Saturday. "I felt it was time. Quite frankly, I didn't feel like I could be the player that I had been for the past 18 years."

Indeed, after spending the first few months of this season on the disabled list following back surgery -- his first-ever trip to the DL; amazing, really, for a catcher. Ausmus returned in July and played sparingly for the Dodgers, hitting .222 in 21 games.

But he had felt it was probably time to hang up the spikes even before the back surgery. Ausmus, 41, hadn't played a whole lot (36 games) as the Dodgers' backup catcher the year before, either. And, of course, there was the pull of being at his San Diego-area home with his wife, Liz, and daughters.

Now, he'll get that chance. With no immediate plans except for "a couple of vacations here and there," Ausmus will no longer spend time studying opposing hitters and working with young pitchers. Instead, he'll enjoy his family, while undoubtedly getting in some surfing -- a favorite pastime -- along the way.

The back of Ausmus's baseball card will tell you he ends up a .251 career hitter with 80 home runs and three Gold Glove awards. But that tells only a smidgeon of his story.

Renowned for his ability to shepherd young pitchers, Ausmus emerged as one of the more respected veteran players in the game. The Dodgers signed him two years ago, after he had spent 10 of the prior 12 seasons with the Astros, to help with their young pitching staff, and the success of young ones like Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley would seem to indicate Ausmus did the job.

Ausmus, who was born in Yale/New Haven Hospital, was a 48th-round draft pick by the Yankees out of Cheshire High. Twenty-three years later, he was the last player from that draft class still standing, a tribute to his career longevity.

Not so much. Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. was the No. 1 overall selection that year, and Craig Biggio (a potential Cooperstown inductee who was Ausmus's teammate in Houston for 10 seasons) was also a first-round pick.

"You take pride in showing up for work, being able to show up for work for almost two decades, in an occupation where it's tough to stick around," Ausmus said.

When he looks back on his career, Ausmus's fondest memories will include the 2005 World Series, where the Astros lost to the White Sox in their first-ever trip to the Fall Classic. He'll remember his extra-inning, game-tying hit in the National League division series against Atlanta that postseason. Certainly, he'll recall his one and only trip to the All-Star Game, in 1999 -- a game played at Fenway Park, where the former Red Sox fan grew up watching games.

Sure, Ausmus would have loved to have won a World Series. Sure, he had always hoped for a chance to play for the Red Sox. But he leaves the game on his terms, with absolutely no regrets.

"The best part of playing baseball is the people around the game, in the clubhouse, the dugout, on the field," Ausmus said. "That'll be the thing I'll miss the most, the banter back and forth."

For his final game last week, the Dodgers presented Ausmus with a commemorative catcher's mask, with the logos of all his former teams on it. Two days earlier, Joe Torre allowed Ausmus to manage a game -- something he had also done on the last day of the regular season a year ago.

Ah yes, managing. For multiple reasons -- his Dartmouth College education, his popularity with players around the league -- Ausmus has always been viewed as future managerial material.

"I think that's a compliment," Ausmus said. "I appreciate it, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be a manager. There are only 30 jobs, and there's no guarantee I'll get one of them. I don't need to concern myself with that right now. I'm more worried about spending time with my family."

For now, the only players who know they'll be managed by Brad Ausmus next spring are Sophie and Abigail Ausmus.